Method of knitting



June 25, 1963 o. FREGEOLLE METHOD OF KNITTING 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 8, 1960 INVENTOR.

OscnR FREGEOLLE A TTORNEY June 25, 1963 o. FREGEOLLE METHOD OF KNITTING 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 8, 19eo INVEN TOR. OSCHR FREGEOLLE A TTORNE Y June 25, 196 3 0. FREGEOLLE 3,094,854

METHOD OF KNITTING Filed Aug. 8, 1960 v INVEN TOR. Oscnra 'FREeeoLu:

A I TORNE Y 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Unite States 3,094,854 Patented June 25, 1963 3,094,854 METHOD OF KNITTING Oscar Fregeolle, Lincoln, R.I., assignor to Draper Corporation, Hopedale, Mass, a corporation of Maine Filed Aug. 8, 1960, Ser. No. 47,980 2 Claims. (Cl. 66-108) This invention relates to an improvement in a method and mechanism for knitting hosiery and, in particular, fine gauge ladies hosiery.

It is the general object of the invention to improve that method of knitting wherein drawing of stitches takes place behind the nibs and over the backs of sinkers. More particularly, it is an object to increase the degree of fashioning beyond the limits heretofore possible whereby the ankle size of ladies hosiery may be knitted closer to finish size while at the same time knitting the welt portion relatively large, so that it becomes possible easily to reduce the ankle down to finish size by conventional finishing procedure.

It is a further object to modify the method of knitting by drawing stitches over the backs of sinkers to relieve unnecesary strain on the stitches over the greater part of the circumference of the needle cylinder, and to provide an apparatus therefor.

Further objects will be apparent from the description to follow.

United States Patents 2,374,857 and 2,376,044 disclose a method of knitting in which a base yarn, instead of being drawn in front of the nibs of sinkers as in the conventional practice, is drawn over the back of those nibs to produce a uniform and symmetrical loop structure in fine gauge knitting. Such a method has been widely accepted throughout the ladies hosiery industry as being far superior to the conventional method of knitting in that a much improved appearing fabric results. The method according to the teachings of those patents had the limitation, however, of not being able to produce a stocking in which the limits of fashioning were as broad as desired, that is, wherein the welt portion of the stocking was full size and at the same time the ankle portion small enough to fit properly and tightly. A pre-boarding operation has been considered more or less necessary during the finishing of the stocking in order to keep the ankle size at a minimum. During preaboarding the stocking is stretched lengthwise which varies the number -'of courses per inch in the ankle from that in the rest of the leg portion whereby color eifects are no longer uniform since the opacity has been varied.

According to the present invention, a novel method and apparatus have been devised whereby it is now possible to reduce the ankle size of circularly knitted hosiery to a minimum and at the same time to keep the welt portion relatively large while still utilizing the benefits of knitting over the backs of sinkers. Briefly, this is accomplished by drawing and completing stitches over the backs of sinkers in a manner generally similar to that disclosed in the above-mentioned United States patents and then shortly thereafter causing the sinker loops to pass up over the backs of the nibs into the throats of the sinkers. In this manner when needles are subsequently raised to a latch clearing position, and then in the heel and toe to a still higher position where needle loops are engaged by a wider part of the needles, stretching of newly formed loops is kept to a minimum since there is no longer the width of the sinker nib to contend with and tighter loops may be drawn without fear of cutting.

Additional advantages will be apparent by reference to the following detailed description and drawings, where- 1n:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a sinker cam cap showing the invention applied thereto;

FIG. 2 is a layout of the needle cams;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation, partially in section, of the control mechanism for a movable needle cam illustrated in the top portion of the figure in end and plan views, re spectively, from left to right;

FIG. 4 is a front elevation in FIG. 3; and

FIGS. 5 to 9 illustrate relative positions of needles and sinkers as sinker loops are caused to pass from the back over the tops of nibs and into the throats of sinkers.

In FIG. 1 the knitting machine framework is indicated at 11 and the sinker cap at =12. The latter includes a center cam 13, a fiopper cam 14 movable between an inner active and an outer inactive position depending upon whether or not it is desired to knit over the backs of sinkers, and a casting otf cam 15 adjacent to and underlying the fiopper cam. Each of these cams has a casting off point 16 in a common vertical radial plane and each .is separately controllable for movement inwardly or outwardly of the needle cylinder by a mechanism generally denoted by the arrow 17 which is more fully described in United States patent application Serial No. 43,600 filed on July 18, 1960. The undesirable limitation as to the limits of fashioning when knitting over the backs of sinkers was due to the fact that the casting off point of the sinkers was fixed and therefore, since the distance between the throats of the sinkers and the hooks of the needles was constant throughout the fashioning cycle according to the practice of United States Patents 2,374,857 and 2,376,044, the loops were stretched as they were cast off, the extent of the stretching progressing as the length of loops was gradually decreased. In accordance with the present invention the casting olf cam 15 is controlled so that the above-mentioned distance is decreased at substan tially the same rate as that at which the length of loops being drawn is decreasing so that in any given course the loops are subjected to the same stress and strain as the loops in every other course to produce an article of hosiery which not only is of top quality in its appearance but also has a substantially smaller ankle size than it has been possible to achieve in the past. Specifically, this is accomplished by progressively withdrawing the sinker casting off point outwardly of the needle cylinder as fashioning takes place. For that purpose the mechanism 17 has been provided to permit the casting olf cam to be withdrawn outwardly in increments and progressively in substantially direct proportion to the decrease in the length of stitch being drawn during the knitting of the ankle portion. A separate control (not shown) moves the flopper cam 14 between an inner position at which time stitches are measured and drawn over the backs of sinkers and an outer position when knitting takes place in a conventional manner in the front of the sinker nibs. A further control (also not shown) acts upon the casting off cam to draw it inwardly in a single move and to draw it outwardly in increments. These are more completely described in the above-cited application.

In circular work the needles N and sinkers S move in a counterclockwise direction around the cylinder C past stationary needle and sinker cams illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 1, respectively. In FIG. 2 needles follow a path 18 in which they are affected by stitch earns 19 and 20, center cam 21, and raise cams 22, 23, 24. These cams are all well known in this type of knitting machine, which may further be equipped with a mesh attachment in which case additional cams 25 would be provided.

Sinker butts 26 (FIG. 5) follow a pathway indicated at P in FIG. 1. The points 5 to 9 represent equivalent sinker and needle positions in FIGS. 1 and 2, the relative positions of which are further ilustrated in FIGS. 5 to 9, respectively. At point 5 the needles have reached the of the mechanism illustrated lowermost point on stitch cam 20 just after sinkers have been aifected by the casting ofli' point 16 on the flopper cam 14 to cast off the previously formed needle loops over the tops of needles.

At point 6 and FIG. 6 needles have been raisedby cams 22, 23 and =24 sufiiciently to enable the newly stormed sinker loops 27 to pass up over the tops of the nibs 28 as sinker-s are withdrawn by a sudden outward projection 29 in the sinker cam path. See FIG. 7. Just after a sinker has been withdrawn, its adjacent needle is lowered by means of a cam 30 to the position shown in FIG. 8 to enable the sinker loop 27 to be lowered through its frictional engagement with its adjacent needles. Finally, sinkers are moved inwardly by means of the cam portion 31 to position the transferred loop into the throat 32 of the sinker as shown in FIG. 9.

The cam 30 is preferably movably mounted so that it may be withdrawn when not knitting over the backs of sinkers. The cam is integral with a member 33 slidably mounted in a supporting bracket 34 which is attached by screws 35 to the cam suppport ring 36. A cap 37 has an extension 38 from which a bell crank lever 30 is pivotally mounted at 40. One arm 41 of the lever is adapted to engage the inner side of a pin 42 fixed to the slida'ble member 33 while the other arm 43 is connected to a link 44 which may be controlled by any suitable means such as a cam disc (not shown). A spring 45 attached between the pin 42 and a fixed member 46 urges the cam 30 inwardly against the needle cylinder while the bell crank lever 39 moves it outwardly at predetermined intervals. At stop screw 47 limits inward movement of the cam.

In operation, in knitting the wel-t portion of ladies hosiery which is normally done by conventional knitting, both the fiopper cam 14 and the needle lowering cam 30 are withdrawn. Just prior to beginning the leg portion of the stocking, both these cams are then moved inwardly at which time the drawing of stitches takes place over the backs of sinkers. Newly formed sinker loops are thereby caused to be passed from the backs and into the throats of sinkers. Preferably, this should take place as soon as possible after the newly formed loops have been measured and drawn and at least prior to the time that the needles are raised to clear their latches 48 which would otherwise cause the previously formed sinker loops to be stretched unduly since they lie in the throats of the sinkers and therefore the thickness of the sinker nibs as well as that of the needles had to be contended with. It is especially important that the transfer of newly formed sinker loops into the throats of sinkers take place prior to going into the heel and toe since at those times, the

instep needles are raised to a point where loops will be engaged by a still wider portion 49 of the needles.

While the invention has been described as applied to a knitting machine having a single feed, it is obvious that it may be used to equal advantage on a multiple feed machine. The invention may further be used to advantage when knitting mesh goods in which case the transfer of sinker loops into the throats should take place prior to needles being afiected by the mesh attachment.

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to be understod that the inventive concept may be carried out in a number of ways. This invention is, therefore, not to be limited to the precise details described, but is intended to embrace all variations and modifications thereof falling within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. A method of knitting an article of hosiery on a circular knitting machine having sinkers and independent needles which includes the steps of drawing a single body yarn only behind the nibs and over the backs of said sinkers and through the needle loops of the previous course, casting 01f the previously formed needle loops by means of the sinkers acting upon the intervening previously formed sinker loops only, and before said needles are raised to a latch clearing position, causing the newly drawn sinker loops to pass over the tops of the nibs from the backs to the throats of said sinkers and then causing the sinkers to traverse the major portion of their circumferential travel with said newly drawn sinker loops in the throats thereof.

2. A method of knitting a tubular fabric on a circular, independent needle, knitting machine which comprises the steps of drawing a single body yarn only over the backs and behind the nibs of sinkers, casting off previously formed needle loops before needles are raised to a latch clearing posit-ion by means of sinkers moving inwardly to a predetermined point during the knitting of certain courses to act upon intervening previously formed sinker loops only, fashioning said tubular fabric by progressively decreasing the length of stitches being drawn during the knitting of subsequent courses, and simultaneously progressively withdrawing the sinker casting off point in a direction outwardly of the needle cylinder.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,711,090 Marlette June 21, 1955 3,041,860 Crawford July 3, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 357,314 Great Britain Sept. 24, 1931 

1. A METHOD OF KNITTING AN ARTICLE OF HOSIERY ON A CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE HAVING SINKERS AND INDEPENDENT NEEDLES WHICH INCLUDES THE STEPS OF DRAWING A SINGLE BODY YARN ONLY BEHIND THE NIBS AND OVER THE BACKS OF SAID SINKERS AND THROUGH THE NEEDLE LOOPS OF THE PREVIOUS COURSE, CASTING OFF THE PREVIOUSLY FORMED NEEDLE LOOPS BY MEANS OF THE SINKERS ACTING UPON THE INTERVENING PREVIOUSLY FORMED SINKER LOOPS ONLY, AND BEFORE SAID NEEDLES ARE RAISED TO A LATCH CLEARING POSITION, CAUSING THE NEWLY DRAWN SINKER LOOPS TO PASS OVER THE TOPS OF THE NIBS FROM THE BACKS TO THE THROATS OF SAID SINKERS AND THEN CAUSING THE SINKERS TO TRAVERSE THE MAJOR PORTION OF THEIR CIRCUMFERENTIAL TRAVEL WITH SAID NEWLY DRAWN SINKER LOOPS IN THE THROATS THEREOF. 